Cancer or neoplasia is the most feared disease. It is a terrible disease especially if attacks your dog. Cancer incidences are on the rise leaving __dog owners with countless questions about why it is happening and what should be done to protect it. As the slogan says, prevention is better than cure. Cancer is among the leading causes of dog’s death in young and old age. When your puppy gets cancer, those cells divide and attack other body cells leading to the death of your dog. According to recent research, one in ten dogs dies of cancer. It is very important to take caution and preventive measures before the disease attacks your pet. In this article, we will discuss various ways to prevent cancer in young dogs.
1. Chemical-free Environment
Chemicals pose very serious health risks, not only to humans but also dogs. Your __dog should live in an environment that does not have chemicals that cause/increase the risk of cancer. If you’re a smoker, your pet should be a bit far when you’re smoking. When your dog inhales the smoke, the smoke can directly attack the lungs and increase the risk of cancer.
Lawn treatments are a serious threat to your dog’s health. Herbicides, pesticides, dangerous household cleaners and other chemicals can get into the blood stream and increase the chances of cancer development. When your dog is playing, always ensure that he or she does not walk or play in such areas. If you suspect that your dog walked in such an area, wash paws immediately with chemical-free shampoo and water.
2. Oral hygiene
It is important to ensure that your dog’s teeth are always clean. This will drastically reduce/lower the risk of oral cancer. Dogs whose teeth are brushed regularly are less likely to develop oral cancer compared to those that are not brushed. Brushing your dog’s teeth isn’t always fun, but it is necessary if you want your dog to grow healthy. There are right tools and tips to help you brush your dog’s teeth. There are teeth gels for dogs that make it even easier. Brushing your pet’s teeth is not a difficult task especially if you love your pet. It is a responsibility if you want to reduce the risk of oral cancer.
3. Reduce the use of tick and flea products
Almost all dog owners buy these products to destroy and keep away fleas and ticks. These products do help but it is important to reduce their usage to the absolute minimum needed for your dog’s weight. According to the latest research, these products contain fipronil that helps kill tick and flea. This ingredient increases the risk of thyroid cancer and results to altered thyroid hormones. The company creates the impression that fibronil does not migrate to the body which is untrue.
Many of these flea and tick products contain either Permethrin or Pyriproxyfen. Permethrin has been tested and found that the product is a carcinogenic insecticide that causes lung cancer and liver tumors in animals. According to the research done by Centre for Public Integrity, Pyrethroids caused double fatalities in 2002-2007 compared to non-pyrethroid compounds. When you’re cleaning your pet avoid using chemicals or cleaning agents that may pose a health risk or disease to your pet.
4. Anti-inflammatory diet
Avoid feeding your dog with anything that promotes inflammation. Recent research shows that cancer is a chronic inflammatory disease and can be caused by inflammation. Inflammation creates an environment for proliferation of abnormal body cells. Glucose in carbohydrates promotes the multiplication of cancer cells. When you’re feeding your dog, avoid large intake or food that contains high percentage of carbohydrate. Avoid processed grains, starchy vegetables, potatoes, fruits with fructose among others. Don’t forget that all dry food contains some starch. All pet food contains some starch. It is good to buy foods that do not contain a lot of starch. Always buy a balanced diet for your dog. Pet grain-free food is good because it has small percentage of starch compared to other types of food.
Avoid feeding your dog with food with high concentration of omega 6 fatty acids or food too low in omega 3 fatty acids. According to the recent research, omega 6 fatty acids promotes/increases inflammation, but omega 3 fatty acids reverses the effect of omega 6. Learn to feed your dog with anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer food such as whole and raw food. The food should contain high protein percentage. Bones are also helpful and healthy to your pet.
5. Spay/Neuter after 18-months of age
Studies have shown that neutering/castrating your dog increases the risk of cancer when done before the age of 18 months. Studies show that there is a high risk of cancer in dogs if they’re castrated before 18 months. The risk of bone cancer to neutered dogs is very high compared to those not castrated. If you want to spay your dog, don’t do it until it reaches the age of 18 months.
6. Don’t allow your dog to become overweight
High calories intake increases the risk of cancer by development of cells including cancer cells. Restricting/minimizing the amount of calories intake by your dog lowers or prevents the progression and tumor development. When you’re feeding your pet, reduce the intake of calories.
Fewer calories blocks tumor growth but a lot of calories leads to obesity, promotes development tumors resulting to cancer. It is recommended to feed your puppy with balanced diet that has all nutrients in correct proportions.
7. Early diagnosis and treatment
It is easy to treat cancer if diagnosed at its initial/first stages. If you have a dog that shows any healthy related complications, it is important to take it for a medical checkup including cancer screening. This will help determine the sickness. If cancer is found in its initial stage, it will be easy to treat it. As a pet owner, it is imperative to spot the symptom of cancer at its initial stage. This will help treat it and avoid the severity of the disease. Detecting cancer at an early stage is important.
If you own a pet dog, it is important to note that there is a risk of cancer. Taking necessary caution and preventive measures is very important. It is easy to treat cancer at its initial stage. Always ensure that your dog screened to avoid the severity of this deadly disease.
About the Author:
My name is Evelyn Valdez, creator of PlaywithMeow! I love all pets (especially cats) because they always make me happy and healthy. I want to connect with other pet lovers in the world to share experience in health and caring for pets.
